Wednesday reading meme

[bedlamsbard]

...which I am trying to get back to after a few months accidentally away.

What I've just finished reading

A couple of rereads, The Silicon Mage by Barbara Hambly and Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch, and Martha Wells' new novella, All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries, which is delightful.

What I'm currently reading

I seem to be going into another Barbara Hambly kick, which I do a couple of times a year, so I'm currently rereading Dog Wizard, which also happens to be the first Hambly book I ever read a few years ago.

What I'm reading next

I'd like to do another reread of S.M. Stirling's Island in the Sea of Time novels, which I haven't read in an age and are an old favorite, and then there are the new Star Wars books, Rebel Rising and Guardians of the Whills.

Comments

[thornsilver]

Have you tried "1632" novels by Eric Flint? I know that you liked "Island in the Sea of Time", so the "1632" series is a 21st century USA town randomly shows up in 1632 Germany might be of interest to you.

[bedlamsbard]

I read the first one around when it first came out (checking -- wow, 2000), but it didn't really work for me.

Some Miracle news...

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, from a fan of your LJ fic from way back when (pleasure to meet you, I'm Julie-Su).I was a reader of yours about 8/10 years ago, and still remember what a great writer you were, particularly for characterisation. As I recall, I came for the Miracle fic and stayed for the rest. I want to start off by thanking you for your contributions to that very small but very charming, lovely fandom.

This brings me to my point. I'm not sure about this comment considering your most recent page of journal (I sympathise, a breakup is hell), but as a (former?) Miracle fan I figured maybe you'd want to know this news.

So, here goes: it's from a couple of weeks ago, regarding the death of Miracle actor Michael Mantenuto. If you didn't know about it, I'm sorry to tell you. I don't know how much you ever invested into the Miracle movie/story, but from your old fic it seems you felt quite an affection for it once so this could come as a bit of a blow. As a former Miracle fan and a current hockey fan, it did for me. Sounds melodramatic to some ears, I guess, but when a big symbolic part of your formative years disappears in an untimely and horrific way, it's a cause for sadness.

If you have been informed already, how are you holding up? All fans of the movie, the '80 Olympics and the sport in general are taking it hard, it's been a shock. If you go over to Michael's tag in Twitter or Tumblr, the outpouring of grief has been unreal - I had no idea Miracle was ever that popular, or that Michael had so many people cheering him on. I didn't know Mike IRL either, but from online comments it seems he was as sunny, warm, funny & loyal as the real O.C. is. It's hard to imagine the pain his wife/kids are in now, if fans are mourning this way.

I feel a bit of a monster for coming to you with bad tidings like this, but after reading some of your old fic last weekend (I had it bookmarked on an old laptop) as a comfort during this time I felt someone ought to. If this affects you badly, please accept my apologies and head straight over to twitter/tumblr to find companionship, everyone there is talking & figuring it out together.

I hope everything else in your life starts to look brighter soon, and until it does keep your head up (as O.C. would likely say) and keep writing like you do. Thanks again for all your fannish contributions.


Julie-Su